For more news visit ☛ http://english.ntdtv.com<br />Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision<br />Follow us on Facebook ☛ http://me.lt/9P8MUn<br /><br />The world's largest, rowdiest and most famous beer festival, the annual Oktoberfest, opens in Munich for the 178th time. Despite higher beer prices, some 6 million visitors are expected to attend and drink millions of pints of beer.<br /><br />The annual Oktoberfest beer festival opened with the traditional scream of "O'zapft is!" (it's tapped) for the 178th time in Germany on Saturday.<br /><br />Tens of thousands of visitors from across the world made their way to the opening in Munich.<br /><br />Organisers say they expect up to six million people during the 17-day event which boasts 95 different beer stands in 14 large tents with a total capacity of 105,000 seats.<br /><br />Visitors to the grounds known as "Wiesn" each year consume millions of pints of beer and hundreds of thousands of sausages.<br /><br />The pleasure fest is kicked off with a procession of the innkeepers who are brought to the tents in horse drawn wagons.<br /><br />Once the innkeepers have arrived the doors are thrown open and beer lovers flood in to take a seat at the hall's long tables.<br /><br />Brass bands whet the appetite and finally as the city's mayor hammers open the beer tap, with the yell: "It's tapped" the drinking can begin.<br /><br />Although many visitors come from abroad, Oktoberfest is a highlight for many Bavarians who turn out in traditional lederhosen and low-cut "dirndl" dresses.<br /><br />Bavaria's state premier Horst Seehofer said the Oktoberfest is all about the moment.<br /><br />[Horst Seehofer, Bavarian State Premier]:<br />"It's being with all the people. Its the atmosphere, the food, the beer, the brass bands and from now until October 3rd, everything takes second place!!"<br /><br />Beer drinkers will have to dig slightly deeper into their lederhosen pockets this year as the price of beer has gone up.<br /><br />But say the revelers, while cheaper is better, it is just the way it is.
